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CLAS Conferences & Feedback

CLAS Conferences – Expertise and international experience sharing

Know-how is not explained: it is transmitted.

For more than twenty years, CLAS has been operating in France and internationally to share its expertise in the construction, inspection and certification of maritime breakwaters built with highly interlocking single-layer artificial concrete armour units.

The conferences led by CLAS are aimed at project owners, engineers, universities, consulting engineers and maritime contractors, and seek to disseminate international best practices that ensure the stability, durability and compliance of structures exposed to wave action.

CLAS présentant son expertise en digues monocouches lors des Journées Génie Civil et Génie Côtier à Anglet
CLAS presentation at the Anglet Civil Engineering & Coastal Engineering Days on the quality and safety of breakwaters built with artificial concrete armour units.

Objectives of CLAS conferences

CLAS conferences aim to:

  • promote international technical reference standards applicable to maritime breakwaters;

  • share feedback from major construction projects, in France and abroad;

  • explain the real requirements of single-layer armour systems using artificial concrete blocks;

  • present the certification, quality control and inspection methods developed by CLAS.

They provide a privileged technical forum for exchange between public authorities, engineers, researchers and coastal and port engineering contractors.

Vue du projet de Puerto Moín montrant les travaux maritimes et la construction des digues en blocs artificiels.
Puerto Moín Project – Maritime works

Topics addressed during the conferences

CLAS presentations cover a wide range of topics related to the design, installation and certification of maritime structures, including in particular:

  • methodologies for certification of breakwater armour layers (Classes A, B and C);

  • feedback from technical expert assessments on damaged breakwater armour layers;

  • risk assessment and analysis of construction non-conformities;

  • underwater inspections, hyperbaric works and in-water control;

  • quality assurance procedures, compliance files and traceability;

  • safety requirements related to the installation of armour units;

  • presentation of the BREAKWATER SOLUTION™ concept, a royalty-free technical solution applied to single-layer artificial concrete armour units.

Reprise et démontage de blocs sur la digue de la NRL
Rehabilitation of an armour layer on the NRL following interlocking defects.

Conferences serving training and the quality of structures

CLAS conferences naturally extend the on-site activities of training, technical assistance and certification.

They make it possible to:

  • disseminate best practices derived from Class A Breakwater–certified structures;

  • strengthen the skills of technical teams involved in breakwater construction;

  • improve understanding of the stability and interlocking mechanisms of artificial concrete armour units.

Each presentation is based on real case studies, validated feedback from experience, and technical comparisons between different placement, control and inspection methods.